8 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMADwith him until they joined the Messenger of God (SAAS), at the time of
Khaybar.
He stated, "Aba Masa witnessed what took place between Jacfar and the
Negus and reported this."
He also said, "And perhaps the narrator was using his imagination in saying,
"The Messenger of God (SAAS), ordered us to depart." But God knows best.This is how al-Bukhm related this in his chapter on the migration to Abyssinia:
"Muhammad b. al-'A12 related to us, quoting Aha Usma, quoting Burayd b.
'Abd Allah from Aba Burda, from Aba Masa, who said, 'The departure of the
Messenger of God (SAAS) became known to us while we were in Yemen. So we
embarked on a boat which took us to the Negus, in Abyssinia. There we found
Ja'far b. Aba Tdib, God bless him, and we stayed there with him until we left
and joined the Prophet (SAAS), when Khaybar was conquered. And so the
Prophet said, "For you people of the boat there are two migrations.""' Muslim
related this in this way from Abn Kurayb and Aba 'Amir 'Ahd Allah h. Barrad,
both of whom used Aba Usma as a source. They both related this at length in
other places. But God knows best.
This narrative concerning Ja'far and the Negus was also related by the ha38 Ibn
'As& in his biography of Ja'far b. Abii Tdib. His account is on his own authority
and that of 'Amr b. alLCAs, both of whom related the hadith. It is also recounted
by Ibn Mas'ad, as given above, and by Umm Salama, as will be shown later.
This following account given by Ja'far is extremely valuable. Ibn 'Asair related
it from Abii al-@sim al-Samarqandi, from Aba al-Husayn h. al-Naqiir, from
Aba Tiihir al-Mukhallis, from Abii al-Q%im h. al-Baghawi, who said, "Aba
'Abd al-Ju'fi related to us, from 'Abd All& b. Wmar b. Aban, quotjng
Asad b. 'Amr al-Bajali, from Mujdid b. Sa'id, from al-Sha'bi, from 'Abd All&
h. Ja'far, from his father, who said, 'Quraysh sent 'Amr b. al-'As and 'Umara b.
al-Walid with a gift from Aba Sufym to the Negus. They told him - and we
were there with him - 'Some low-class and silly people of ours have come to you.
So hand them over to us!'
"He replied, 'No, not until I hear what they have to say."'
Ja'far went on, "So he sent to us and asked, 'What's all this they say?'
"We replied, 'These are people who worship idols. God sent a messenger to
us in whom we believed and trusted.'
"The Negus then asked them, 'Are these people slaves of yours?'
"'No,' they replied.
"'Do they have debts owing to you?' he then asked.
"'No,' they answered.
"'Then leave them alone,' he said.
"At this we left his presence, but 'Amr b. al-'iT$ told hi, 'These people speak
different things of Jesus from what you do.'